Personnel proximity detection and tracking system

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for tracking, locating, identifying, or mapping movements of persons or personnel within a facility may include badges carried by selected persons or personnel through the facility, and these badges can each include a transmitter configured to transmit a series of signals including signature information identifying the badges and also identifying codes of each signal transmitted. In addition, a series of receivers can be positioned at selected locations of the facility and can receive the signals transmitted by the transmitters of the badges, and these receivers can be configured to identify each badge from which signals are received based upon signature information for identified badges and also to determine the proximity, range, distance, or zone between the badge identified and one or more receivers.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present patent application is a formalization of previously filed,co-pending U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/020,728,filed Jul. 3, 2014 by the inventors named in the present application.This patent application claims the benefit of the filing date of thiscited Provisional patent application according to the statutes and rulesgoverning provisional patent applications, particularly 35 U.S.C.§119(e), and 37 C.F.R. §§1.78(a)(3) and 1.78(a)(4). The specificationand drawings of the Provisional patent application referenced above arespecifically incorporated herein by reference as if set forth in theirentirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD AND BACKGROUND

In testing of areas of various facilities, such as hospital rooms,researchers have found antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria onmultiple surfaces, including bedrails, supply carts, and floors. Suchbacteria have been linked to causing numerous infection outbreaks inhealth care facilities over the last decade, and can survive on surfacesfor long periods of time. One study sampling at least the followingsurfaces: bedrails, bedside tables, door handles, vital sign monitortouchpads, nurse call buttons, sinks, supply cart drawer handles,infusion pumps, ventilator surface touch pads, and the floor on bothsides of the patient's bed, found that, of the surfaces tested, thesurfaces most contaminated were supply cart handles, floors, infusionpumps, ventilator touchpads, and bedrails. These findings raise concernssince these contaminated surfaces are touched routinely by medicalpersonnel and may be a source of hospital-based transmission of highlyinfectious diseases, such as staph, MRSA and other serious infections topatients. Accordingly, to address such concerns, embodiments of thepresent disclosure generally relate to a proximity detecting andtracking methods and systems for a selected facility, such as a medicalfacility.

SUMMARY

In one embodiment, the present application can include multi-purposemethods and systems for tracking, identifying, locating, and/or mappingthe movements or activities of persons in a selected facility. Forexample, the systems and methods according to the present disclosure canallow for tracking and mapping of the movements and activities ofmedical workers or patients in a medical facility using one or moreprimary transmitters and a series of primary receivers. These trackedmovements and activities can further be cross-referenced with healthinformation to allow for real time or forensic mapping of activities inthe medical facility or to provide real time instructions to medicalpersonnel.

In an additional embodiment, the present disclosure is generallydirected to a compliance system for hospitals to assist in minimizingcontaminants transmitted from one patient to another via health careproviders. The system can include one or more transmitters and/orreceivers incorporated into personal badges and receivers coupled toantibacterial dispensers that can be coded or programmed foridentifying, detecting and locating health care providers within ahospital or other selected environment, as well as within identifiedsub-areas or zones within the selected environment. For example, thehealthcare providers can carry badges with a front and one or more sidebeam transmitters, and which have a rechargeable and/or replaceablepower source.

In an even further embodiment, a system and method is provided fortracking and monitoring proximity and/or movement of patient treatmentproviders and/or other personnel into and within an environment in whichthere is a risk of exposure to potential contamination, infection, etc.,such as a patient room, or other treatment area that may require ornecessitate application of sanitizing or disinfecting treatment. Thissystem can be configured to utilize detection of different intensityinfra-red (IR) energy bursts emitting from a badge IR beam forcommunications, mapping of persons or objects carrying the badges,signaling alerts and/or initiating other actions. The badge beams can beprovided or emitted at varying intervals or patterns and/or directed ordispersed in a manner so as to be detected by sensors generally locatedat key or substantially centralized locations, such as on a wall behinda patient bed, or on the bed, and will be generated from a badge carriedby a nurse, doctor, staff or other personnel. Such sensors also can beprogrammed or provided with a prescribed or selected sensitivity levelto enable detection of badge IR beams of a certain intensity or within aprescribed proximity or distance. For example, the badge IR beam burstscan be directed or focused in directions at which constant sensitivitysensors will be oriented and/or placed with respect to a doorway orvarious other objects in a room. Each IR beam or burst can betransmitted sequentially and its intensity can vary incrementally, andfurther can include a badge signature. The distance from the sensor atwhich the beam/pulse is translated also can be varied. Information,including badge signature, time, distance to a detecting sensor can besent wirelessly to a server or central processor, which may be connectedto a cloud-based network, along with the recorded sensor and thedispenser's signatures.

The system can use horizontal IR communication between the user badgesand other detecting units, such as dispensers and various other mountedand/or stand-alone units at desired location about a facility, and/orother types of communications as needed. For example, RF transmitterscan be used to send the collected information wirelessly to acloud-based network in communication with a central server or processor,for recording and processing to provide desired data reports. The systemalso can provide devices higher precision in collection of informationand tracking of movements of health care providers of other personnel,especially in critical areas around the patient.

In one example embodiment, when a health care provider is entering apatient room and approaching the patient close area, a signal from asanitizing dispenser can be received by the badge, such that the badge“wakes up,” sending its signature back to the dispenser, which can senddetection ID and other information to the cloud. The dispenser can theninitiate a “wash hands” alert for about 10 seconds and, if activatedwithin the period, send a compliance signal/message. If not activatedwithin the time period, the system can send a non-compliance message.

When the health care provider approaches the patient, their badge sideIR transmitter(s) also can communicate with one of a series of fixed orreceiving sensors, which can be of a constant or varying sensitivity.These sensors can be mounted to a wall or patient bed, and can receivethe signals sent by the badge transmitter(s), such as detect intensityor other variables thereof, for use in defining X and Y locations of thebadge with reference to the patient's body, and at a desired/measuredtime. Such information can be recorded and an alert issued if anon-compliance message was previously entered for thedetected/identified badge. Additionally, the sensors can be maintainedin a low power or sleep mode until receiving a signal from a badgetransmitter or from the sanitizing dispenser.

Thereafter, when the health care giver is approaching the exit door,their badge signal can activate a door/portal or exit unit, which willsend activation data back to the dispenser, which, in turn, will sendthe data to the cloud. The exit unit signal also can cause the dispenserto issue a “wash hands” alert, and further can reset the badge, andpotentially the fixed sensor(s) back to a “sleep mode,” as needed.

In other embodiments, a proximity warning system further is provided forwarning of the proximity of medical personnel within at least one zoneof interest adjacent a patient's bed. The personnel proximity warningsystem includes at least one primary sensor deployed to receiveradiation from at least part of the zone of interest. The primary sensoris configured to produce a primary output indicative of a quantity ofelectromagnetic radiation incident on the primary sensor. At least onetransmitter is configured to transmit an electromagnetic signal towardat least part of the zone of interest. A processing module is associatedwith at least the primary sensor and is responsive to the primary outputto generate a warning signal to alert personnel of the need to washand/or sanitize their hands before coming into contact with a patient.The transmitted electromagnetic signal generally can lie within theinfrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. A signal generatorwill be associated with the at least one transmitter and can beconfigured to generate an underlying pulsed power supply. For example,the power supply can have a duty cycle of less than about five (5) %.

In some embodiments, a modulator module could be associated with atleast one transmitter element of a primary transmission device andconfigured to modulate the transmission power of the electromagneticsignal cyclically between at least two relative power levelscorresponding to at least two different-sized zones of interest, ahigher one of the at least two relative power levels being generated forless than about 20% of each cycle.

There also can be provided, according to the teachings of the presentdisclosure, a proximity warning system for warning of the proximity ofan obstacle within a zone of interest, the zone being delineated atleast in part by a virtual line, the system comprising: (a) a pluralityof transmitter elements responsive to an actuating power supply totransmit an electromagnetic signal generally towards the virtual line;and (b) at least one sensor responsive to a received reflectedelectromagnetic signal generally from along the virtual line to generatea reception signal. The configuration and the deployment of thetransmitter elements and of the at least one sensor further generallywill be selected such that, for a given level of actuating power supply,the reception signal resulting from reflection of the transmittedelectromagnetic signal from the surface of an object remainssubstantially constant as the object is moved along a path approximatelycorresponding to a part of the virtual line.

According to a further feature of the present disclosure, each of thetransmitter elements can have a transmission intensity that decreases asa function of angle from a maximum intensity direction. In addition, twoor more of the transmitter elements can be deployed to facilitate amaximum intensity transmission in angularly spaced directions, such thata total transmitted intensity assumes a minimum value at an intermediateangular position. The sensor also can have a reception sensitivity whichdecreases as a function of angle from a maximum sensitivity direction,the sensor being aligned with its maximum sensitivity direction alignedsubstantially with the intermediate angular position of minimum totaltransmitted intensity.

According to yet another feature of the present disclosure, each of thetransmitter elements has a transmission intensity which decreases as afunction of angle from a maximum intensity direction to a 50%transmission intensity direction, two of the transmitter elements beingdeployed with their maximum intensity directions angularly spaced suchtheir 50% transmission intensity directions are substantially aligned.

According to still a further feature of the present disclosure, therealso can be provided a transmission power modifier associated with eachof the transmitter elements, each of the transmission power modifiersmodifying the effect of the actuating power supply upon thecorresponding one of the transmitter elements such that a combinedintensity of the electromagnetic signal from all of the transmitterelements reaching the part of the virtual line can be substantiallyconstant along the line.

In another embodiment, the present disclosure can provide an infraredidentification tracking method and system for hospitals and/or foodprocessing hygiene compliance. In this embodiment, each healthcareperson wears a badge on their chest. The badge can comprise, forexample, at least three infrared LED's, for example, arranged in aconfiguration with one LED in the front and one LED on each side, andwill provide a coded person's identification and position within apredetermined zone. Other configurations also can be used. Thepredetermined zone can be designated by several factors, such as,distance, front, right, left side seen from the orientation of thebadge. The badge can also include at least one infrared receiver thatfunctions to “wake up” the badge when the badge receives a signal from adispenser or other tracking unit, such as those that are installedwithin a facility. Generally, the badge is in a ready state and can bewoken up in order to provide for battery saving.

These and other advantages and aspects of the embodiments of thedisclosure will become apparent and more readily appreciated from thefollowing detailed description of the embodiments taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings, as follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A illustrates an overview example of a badge transmitting a seriesof signals and primary receivers configured to receive these signalsaccording to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1B illustrates an overview example of a badge transmitting a seriesof signals and primary receivers configured to receive these signalsaccording to an alternative embodiment.

FIG. 2 provides a schematic illustration of the badge according to theembodiment shown in FIG. 1A.

FIG. 3 provides a schematic illustration of the primary receiveraccording to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1A.

FIG. 4 provides a schematic illustration of communication between aprimary receiver, a network, and a central processor according toembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 provides an overview example of a badge transmitting signals to aseries of primary receivers disposed near the head of a patient bedaccording to one example embodiment.

FIG. 6 illustrates a series of primary receivers and subzones generatedthereby in a patient room according to an additional aspect of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 7A illustrates a top view of a primary transmitter showing infraredbadge subzones worn by such personnel according to one aspect of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 7B is a side view of primary transmitter shown in FIG. 7A.

FIG. 8 illustrates a badge according to an alternative embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 9 illustrates a dispenser according to the embodiment shown in FIG.8.

FIG. 10A illustrates the dispenser of FIG. 9 with a side bar and zonereceivers.

FIG. 10B illustrates the dispenser of FIG. 9 with mirrors for reflectinga transmission to the dispenser.

FIG. 11 illustrates an exit room and tracking unit that can be used inthe embodiment of FIG. 8.

FIG. 12 illustrates a block diagram of a proximity warning system,constructed and operative according to example teachings of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 13 illustrates a schematic circuit diagram for an exampleimplementation of a modulated transmission sub-system from the system ofFIG. 12.

FIG. 14 illustrates a schematic representation of a transmitted signalgenerated by the modulated transmission sub-system of FIG. 13.

FIG. 15 illustrates a schematic representation of an implementation of areception sub-system from the system of FIG. 12.

FIG. 16 illustrates a schematic representation of an alarm signalgenerated by the reception sub-system of FIG. 15 in three differentsituations.

FIG. 17 illustrates a plan view illustrating the superposition of theangular variation of transmitted intensity or reception sensitivity fora pair of transmitters or sensors.

FIG. 18 illustrates a plan view illustrating the superposition of theangular variation of transmitted intensity for a pair of transmittersand reception sensitivity for an interposed sensor.

FIG. 19 illustrates a schematic plan view of a pattern of transmittersdeployed to provide comprehensive coverage of an approximatelyrectangular zone.

FIG. 20 illustrates a block diagram of an alternative embodiment of aproximity warning system, constructed and operative according to furtherexample teachings of the present disclosure.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate and understand that, accordingto common practice, the various features of the drawings discussed beloware not necessarily drawn to scale, and that the dimensions of variousfeatures and elements of the drawings may be expanded or reduced to moreclearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention describedherein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description is provided as an enabling teachingof embodiments of the invention. Those skilled in the relevant art willrecognize that many changes can be made to the embodiments described,while still obtaining the beneficial results. It will also be apparentthat some of the desired benefits of the embodiments described can beobtained by selecting some of the features of the embodiments withoututilizing other features. Accordingly, those who work in the art willrecognize that many modifications and adaptations to the embodimentsdescribed are possible and may even be desirable in certaincircumstances. Thus, the following description is provided asillustrative of the principles of the invention and not in limitationthereof, since the scope of the invention is defined by the claims.

In general, embodiments of the present application can includemulti-purpose methods and systems for tracking, identifying, locating,and/or mapping the movements or activities of persons, e.g., health carefacility employees and patients, restaurant employees, factory workers,or laboratory personnel, in a selected facility, e.g., medicalfacilities, restaurants, factories, manufacturing facilities, orlaboratories, and their specific activities, such as providing patientcare or complying with sanitation requirements.

As generally shown in FIGS. 1A-B, a proximity, tracking, and locationdetection system 1, 10 according to embodiments of the presentdisclosure are schematically illustrated; and may include one or moretags, badges or other, similar devices 2, 20, which can be carried orworn by various persons or personnel in a selected facility, e.g.,medical workers or patients in a health care facility, employees of arestaurant or manufacturing facility, and/or laboratory personnel, andseries of primary receivers 3, 30 positioned at desired locations withinpreselected areas or environments throughout the selected facility,e.g., on the walls, doorframes, patient beds, washing stations, sinks,toilets, medical carts, or any other locations or areas in a medicalfacility where sanitizing or disinfecting actions are required and/ortreatment or care to patients is provided. The locations of the primaryreceivers generally will be known, or in some applications, such as whenmounted to a patient bed, can be identified with a known bed/patientidentifier for coordinating the location/mapping of the badges detectedthereby. In some embodiments, the primary receivers 3, 30 can beincorporated with/coupled to sanitation dispensers or other devices 11at various sanitation stations located throughout a medical facility(FIG. 1B). However, embodiments of the present disclosure are not solimited, and it will be understood that the receivers 3, 30 can also beused in different environments or applications, such as in restaurants,manufacturing plants, laboratories, or any other facility or environmentwhere monitoring and/or tracking of movements or activities of personnelis desired.

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, each badge 2, 20 cantransmit a series of beams or signals 6, 60, which can be received orotherwise detected by one or more of the primary receivers 3, 30, and,based on such signals 6, 60, the location, proximity, or range of eachbadge 2, 20 and a specific transmitter signature or other identifierassociated with the badge can be detected and captured by one or more ofthe primary receivers 3, 30. The badge/transmitter signature also caninclude signature information or signature identifiers sufficient toidentify each badge and/or the person carrying or wearing the badge,such as by an employee number, patient code, or other suitableidentifier. The primary receivers 3, 30 can further transmit thisreceived information and information identifying the receiver such as areceiver identifier or other code, which can also identify a particulararea or location where the receiver is mounted or located, to a network15 in communication with a processor 19 to thereby allow for processingincluding real time tracking, identifying, locating, and/or mapping ofthe movements or activities of selected persons throughout theparticular facility (FIG. 4). Although the present example discusses oneor more badges transmitting a plurality of signals 6, 60 embodiments ofthe present disclosure are not limited thereto and may include tags,fobs, keycards, wristbands, or any other active or passive electronicdevice capable of being carried or worn.

FIG. 2 provides a schematic view of the badges 2 according to one aspectof the present disclosure. Each badge 2 may generally include a body 2 awith front 2 e and side 2 b surfaces, and the badges may further includea primary transmission device 4, which, in one embodiment, can includeone or more IR transmitters, such as an LED or an array of LEDs, fortransmitting a series of IR signals 6 a-6 e. However, other transmissiondevices/signals also can be used. Each badge further can include areceiving device 8 configured to receive an activation signal foractivating the badges 2, a timer or clock module 10, a series ofresistors 12, one or more transmission modules 14, and a power source16, such as one or more batteries. The primary transmission device 4 caninclude a series of LEDs disposed on various sides of the body 2 a ofthe badge, such as two LEDs on opposite side surfaces 2 b and one LED ona front surface 2 c, which may face in a forward direction (e.g., awayfrom a person's chest) when the badge 2 is worn or carried by selectedpersonnel, though the primary transmission devices can be disposed orarranged in other configurations about the badge body 2 a. The badges 2can be activated and begin transmitting signals 6 a-e when a receivingdevice 8 thereof, which may include an IR receiver, such as an IRreceiving diode, photodiode, photocell, photo-emissive cell,photoconductive cell, photo-voltaic cell, photodetector, photosensor,light dependent resistor, light sensing circuit, or any other sensor fordetecting electromagnetic signals, receives an initiation or activationsignal from one or more of the receivers or other activation devicespositioned at selected locations throughout the facility.

For example, in some embodiments, the primary receivers 3 mayperiodically or substantially continuously transmit one or moreactivation or initiation signals and, when the badge 2 ispositioned/located or moves within a predetermined distance, proximity,range, or zone of the one or more of the primary receivers 3, e.g., whena person carrying or wearing a badge walks into a patient room orprogrammed or desired proximity, distance, range, or zone with respectto one or more of the primary receivers 3 disposed throughout selectedareas of a particular facility, the badge receiving device 8 mayreceive, or otherwise detect, the activation or initiation signal andthereby activate or “wake up” the badge. The intensities of theactivation/initiation signals can be selected so that transmission ofsuch signals is contained within, or limited to, prescribed areas of theselected facility to prevent erroneous activation of the badges 2. Forinstance, primary receivers 3 or other activation devices can bepositioned in a patient room in a medical facility and can transmitactivation signals at intensities that will only activate badges 2carried by a medical professional when he or she walks or passes throughan entryway to selected areas of the medical facility or within acertain distance, e.g., approximately 1 ft. to approximately 2 ft., intothe patient room to thereby prevent erroneous activation or initiationof the badge 2 when the medical professional simply walks by or onlyinitially enters the patient room.

In one embodiment, once a receiver 8 of the badge 2 receives orotherwise detects an initiation/activation signal, the power source 16can be activated and the badge can begin transmission of signals 6 a-6e. The clock or timer module 10 can be configured to operate so that thesignals 6 a-e are transmitted in a selected or programmed sequence oneafter the other for a predetermined time period (or at other intervals).For example, each transmission sequence or burst can last for a timeperiod of approximately 0.1 ms to approximately 10 ms with anintermission between each sequence of transmissions of approximately 0.1ms to approximately 1 ms. It further will be understood that othervarying and/or longer or shorter sequence intervals and/or intermissionsalso can be used. By way of example, the signals can be transmitted incycles with the weakest signal first 6 a and the strongest signal last 6e; however, embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited tosuch sequence and the signals 6 a-6 e can be transmitted in the oppositesequence, i.e., with the strongest signal 6 e first and the weakestsignal 6 e last and/or in any other sequence. In addition, the badges 2can reset the transmission of the signals after completion of a fullsequence, such that the signals are transmitted in a periodic orsubstantially continuous cycle. Each badge 2 also can transmit signals 6a-6 e in repeating cycles until the person carrying or wearing the badge2 is no longer within the prerequisite proximity, distance, range orzone of one or more of the primary receivers 3 such that the receiverdevice 8 no longer detects or receives an initiation or activationsignal, at which point the power source 16 can power down or the badgecan enter a low power mode or “sleep state.”

Additionally, the badges 2 can include a series of transmission modules14 a-e (FIG. 2) configured to produce a series of electrical signals orimpulses for generating signals 6 a-e, and each signal or electricalimpulse can be modulated, controlled, or modified such that each signal6 a-e is transmitted with, or otherwise contains, signature informationincluding a particular identifying code or unique signal identifier,such as a particular binary code decimal (BCD), alternative numericsignature, or any other identifier. For example, the power, amplitude,frequency, continuity, or other aspect or property of each signal can bemodulated, modified, or controlled to generate the signatureinformation, particular identifying code or unique signal identifier.The signals can include one or more components indicative of the signalstrength/intensity of each transmitted signal, e.g., the identifyingcode signature identifier, and other components indicative ofinformation corresponding to, or identifying each badge 2, which mayinclude signature information or a signature identifier that mayidentify the person carrying each badge 2, with, for example, anemployee id number, patient code, or other identifier. Each badge 2further can include a series of intensity bias resistors 12 a-e allowingfor control of the transmission strength/intensity of signals 6 a-ebased on the resistance capacity of each resister, e.g., the higher theresistance of the corresponding resistor 12 the lower the signalintensity. It will also be understood that other methods and techniquesfor regulating the signal intensity also can be employed. Accordingly,each signal 6 a-c can be transmitted at a predetermined intensity/signalstrength based on the resistance capacity of resistors 12 a-e, such thateach signal can be received or detected at a predetermined distance,proximity, range, or zone and with a particular identifying code orunique signal identifier, such as BCDs: 0001, 0010, 0011, 0100, 0101.

For example, signal 6 a can include identifying code or signalidentifier 0001 and be transmitted at an strength or intensity such thatit is received or detected within a distance, proximity, range, or zoneof approximately 1 ft. radius around the primary transmitter; signal 6 bcan include identifying code or signal identifier 0010 and betransmitted at a strength or intensity such that it is received/detectedwithin a distance, proximity, range, or zone of approximately 2 ft.radius; signal 6 c can include a identifying code or signal identifier0011 and be transmitted at a strength or intensity such that it isreceived/detected within a distance, proximity, range, or zone ofapproximately 3 ft. radius; signal 6 d can include identifying code orsignal identifier 0100 and be transmitted at a strength or intensitysuch that it is received/detected within a distance, proximity, range,or zone of approximately 4 ft. radius; and signal 6 e can include aunique signal identifier 0101 and be transmitted at a strength orintensity such that it is received/detected within a distance,proximity, range, or zone of approximately 5 ft. radius. Though thepresent example embodiment is illustrated with five different signalswith signal intensities/strengths varying at 1 ft. increments, anynumber of signals may be transmitted at any number of increments,including, but not limited to, one-four or a much greater number ofsignals, transmitted at increments of up to approximately 2-10 ft. ormore or at much smaller intervals or increments such as approximately10-5 in. or less.

In other embodiments, a substantially large number of signals can betransmitted from a badge to improve the precision or accuracy of thedetection of the distance, proximity, range, or zone in which the badgecan be received or detected. For example, up to approximately 100, up toapproximately 1,000, up to approximately 10,000, up to approximately100,000, or more signals varying with intensities can be transmittedfrom each badge. Transmitting such large numbers of signals can maintaina precise or accurate detection of the distance, range, proximity, orzone of the badges throughout continued use of the badges, such asthrough degradation of the components or at times of low battery power.

FIG. 3 provides a schematic illustration of the primary receivers 3according to one aspect of the present disclosure. Each primary receiver3 can generally include a receiving device 5, such as an IR receiver,which can include IR receiving diodes, photodiodes, photocells,photo-emissive cells, photoconductive cells, photo-voltaic cells,semiconductor devices, photodetectors, photosensors, light dependentresistors, light sensing circuits, or any other sensor for detectingelectromagnetic signals, configured to receive, or otherwise detect,signals 6 a-e; a first transmission device 7, which may include an IRtransmitting LED; a processor 13 with a series of processing modules 13a-e; and a transmission device 9 for transmitting information based onthe signal received by receiving device 5. The processor 13 can includean initiation module 13 a that operates to control the IR transmissiondevice 7 to transmit an initiation or activation signal to activate or“wake up” the primary transmitters 2. The processor 13 can also includea reception module 13 b to initially processes/encode the signals 6 a-ereceived or detected by the IR receiver 5 and send informationcorresponding to the signal or signals received to the interpolationmodule 13 c. This interpolation module 13 c can operate to interpolateinformation corresponding to the signal or signals received and canidentify the particular received signal based on its unique signalidentifier, e.g. BCD 0001. After one or more signals are identified, theinterpolation module 13 c can determine the approximate proximity,range, distance, or zone of the badge 2 to, or from, the primaryreceiver 3 and also identity information corresponding to the personcarrying or wearing badge 2, such as a medical professional's employeenumber, based on the unique signal identifier of each badge. Suchinformation can be collected into records or packets that can be sentperiodically, together with the primary receiver identifier, to acentral server/processor.

For example, if the interpolation module 13 c identifies or determinesthat the receiving device 5 is only receiving signal 6 e based onidentifier 0001, the interpolation module 13 b can determine that thebadge 2 (and a person wearing the badge) is approximately 5 ft. awayfrom the primary receiver 3, and alternatively, if the interpolationmodule 13 c identifies or determines that the receiving device 5 isreceiving all five of the signals 6 a-e, based on identifiers 0001,0010, 0011, 0100, 0101, the interpolation module can determine that thebadge 2 (and a person wearing the badge) is approximately 1 ft. awayfrom the primary receiver 3. The interpolation module 13 c can thensend, or communicate, this information, e.g. the proximity, distance, orrange of the badge 2 and an identifier of the person wearing or carryingthe badge, to a network 15 in communication with a server, centralprocessor, computer (CPU), or central processing system 17 for furtherprocessing using transmission device 9, which may include an antenna,dongle, or other device for transmitting WiFi, Bluetooth, Radio Wave, orother electromagnetic signals. The receivers 3 can also transmitinformation identifying the receiver, such as a receiver identifier orother code corresponding to each receiver which may be indicative of aparticular room, location, or area where the receiver is located in thefacility.

According to an alternative embodiment, the primary receiver 30 mayinclude one or more prisms 52 designed and configured to receive signals60 transmitted from a badge 20, which may be directed at a series ofpredetermined angles as shown in FIG. 1B. The one or more prisms 52 canbe located and/or oriented to receive an IR transmission from thetransmitter 40 (badge and/or other static or moving unit containing IDsignature, location and distance) and can reflect the beams/input ontoan IR sensor or sensor array 50. Each receiver further can sendcollected records or data to the network 15, which is in communicationwith server 17, via an antenna 9 using any available communicationsystem (e.g., WiFi, Bluetooth®, radio, IR system). Each badge 20 canagain have a unique ID signature, such as a BCD or other suitableidentifier, and the receiver 30 can decode each specific signature andsend this information through the network to a central monitoring systemor server 17 where the data can be stored in a storage 21.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, after one or more signals are detected by theone or more of the receivers 3, 30, information corresponding to thesignature information contained within the received signal identifyingthe badge or others unique identifier, and information identifying thereceiver or receivers 30 can be transmitted wirelessly, in real time, toa network 15, such as a cloud based network, virtual personal network(VPN) or local area network (LAN), via a transmitter 9, 90, such as aRadio Wave, Bluetooth®, WiFi, IR, or other electromagnetic transmitter,in communication with the receiver 3, 30. This information, as well asany additional recorded information associated therewith, can then betransmitted to a server, computer, or central processing system 17,which is in wireless or direct communication with network 15 andincludes a processor 19 operable to perform processing on theinformation corresponding to the unique identifiers of the signal orsignals received, such as track or measure specific, predetermined,desirable or undesirable activities or movements or to detect theactivation of a device such as a soap or antibacterial dispenser 11.Accordingly, embodiments of the present disclosure can be used to trackrestaurant, food manufacturing, or medical employees' or patient'smovements, location and activities throughout a predetermined space, forexample, a patient room or an isolation ward. In one example, one ormore receivers 3, 30 can be incorporated into, or otherwise incommunication with, a sanitation device, sanitizing fluid dispenser orother device 11 (FIG. 1B) and/or mounted, or otherwise disposed on, adoor, cabinet, monitoring or other patient treatment equipment, and/orother suitable items, and the one or more receivers 3, 30 can signal theprocessor 19 when activated. For example, the system can detect when arestaurant employee enters a bathroom, and detect if and when thatspecific person activates a soap or disinfection dispenser, or not,within a predetermined time period.

Additionally, the system may include a database 23 connected to, or incommunication with, the network 15 and the processor 13, and the datastored in this database 23 may include information related to thepatients checked into and/or medical professional workers working at amedical facility. For example, this data may include patient medicalrecords, such as any communicable or infectious diseases/infections thepatient has contracted, and the data may also include informationrelating to the time and date the patient checked into the medicalfacility, the duration of the patient's stay at the medical facility,the particular area, location, or room to which the patient is assignedand/or other medical facilities the patient has visited. This data maybe organized in the database 23 based on a patientidentification/tracking number which may include a patient's date ofbirth, Social Security number, or other identifier. As a result, thetracking records provided by the system 1, 10 may be used tocross-reference information including the location (e.g., the proximity,range, distance, or zone between a selected badge and one or morereceivers) and identifier of the badges and information, including thelocation and an identifier of one or more receivers with the informationstored in the database 23 to track or map a particular person's movementthrough a medical facility and, based on such tracking or mapping, canpotentially determine whether such person came in proximity to, or wasotherwise exposed to, a particular infection or disease, such as staph,MERSA, Ebola, or other communicable infection or disease.

FIG. 5 shows an example embodiment of the present disclosure in whichone or more primary receivers 3 are disposed near the head of apatient's bed and/or at other locations such as on the wall behind thepatient's bed, on the bedpost, or in a medical diagnostic devicepositioned near the head of the patient's bed. In this example, eachbadge 2, which can be worn or carried by a medical worker, can activateor “wake up” when the worker steps within a predetermined distance,proximity, range, or zone of the patient's bed and the badge 2 receivesan activation or initiation signal from one or more of the primaryreceivers 3, as described. Alternatively, one or more primary receivers3 or other activation devices can be disposed near an entryway, e.g.,doorway, of the patent's room, such as on, or in, the doorframe, so thateach badge 2 activates immediately when the medical worker carrying orwearing the badge enters the patient's room.

Once the badge 2 is activated, the one or more primary transmittingdevices 4 of the badge can begin to transmit the series of signals 6a-e, and when, for example, an initial primary receiving device 3receives one or more of the signals 6 a-6 e, a sanitizing device 11,connected to, or in communication with, such a primary receivers 3 canindicate to the medical worker that a sanitation action is required. Forexample, the sanitizing device 11 may include one or more LEDs, or analarm, that may illuminate, or sound, to indicate that a particularsanitation action is required. Additionally, the primary receiver 3 mayencode or capture the unique identifier identifying the particularworker contained within the signals 6 a-6 e and may transmit, orotherwise communicate, the unique identifier and other information tothe central server 17 (FIG. 4) through the network 15. By way ofexample, one or more of the primary receivers 3 may transmit theidentifier of the worker and a receiver identify or other identifieridentifying the particular primary receiver or receivers 3/30, whichreceived one or more of the transmitted signals from the badge(s), andthe primary receiver 3 may also transmit information corresponding towhether the sanitizing device 11 was used or activated. This may allowfor real time tracking of the specific location of the medicalprofessional in relation to a particular patient or patients andcompliance by the medical worker with the alerted sanitation action.This information, e.g., the worker's identifier, the primary receiver'sidentifier, and information on whether the sanitation device wasactivated, can further be stored in storage 21 for mapping of theparticular patient visited and whether the medical worker complied withthe alerted sanitation action.

In addition, embodiments of the present disclosure may provide for adetermination of improved precision in tracing or mapping movementsand/or an area or location(s) on or along the patient's body where thehealthcare worker provided treatment or may have contacted the patient,since the worker's position with respect to the patient can beidentified based on the particular signal or signals received, asdescribed. By way of example, if a wall or bed mounted primary receiver3 identified with the patient receives only a first signal 6 e, it canbe determined that the medical worker wearing or carrying the badge camewithin a desired or predetermined proximity to the patient's feet orlower legs; if the primary receiver 3 receives signals 6 c, 6 b, and 6a, it can be determined that the medical worker carrying or wearing thebadge is within a desired or predetermined proximity to the patient'storso, and if the primary receiver 3 receives all signals 6 a-e, it canbe determined that the worker carrying or wearing the badge is within adesired or predetermined proximity to the patient's head. Records of thereceived signals or codes indicative of the detected location(s) of themedical worker in relation to the patient's body together with the badgeidentifier identifying the medical worker, can be collected and/orstored as records that can be transmitted, together with a unique codeidentifying the primary receivers 3 that received and collected therecord of these badge transmitted signals 6 a-e to the processor 19.Alternatively, a simple signal 6 a can be transmitted by each badge, andbased upon a detected intensity or strength of signal thereof, as aresult of its proximity to or distance from the primary receiver, can bemonitored to determine and/or map locations of the badge wearer withrespect to the patient's body. Additionally, each primary receiver 3 mayalso measure the specific number or amount of time each of the signals 6a-e is received and encode these measurements and transmit them to theprocessor 19.

Based on the unique code identifying the primary receiver or receivers 3providing each record received by the processor, the processor 19 canidentify the patient being treated and can then access the patient'smedical history from the database 23 to determine whether a medicalworker designated to provide a prescribed treatment to the patient hasvisited the patient or has yet to complete such a visit bycross-referencing whether the signal(s) received correspond to thedesignated worker, with the patient's medical information, and if so,monitor the duration of their visit and location(s) with respect to thepatient's body can be used to substantiate/check their visit. Forexample, if the patient has an injury or a malady on his or her foot orlower leg, e.g., gangrene, this will be indicated in the patient'smedical records stored in database 23, and the processor can determinewhether the designated medical worker both entered the patient's roomand actually approached the patient and/or was in proximity to theinjured area to an extent sufficient to provide requisite treatmentthereto. As a further example, if the patient has an injury to theirhead, e.g., a blunt force trauma, and the identified badge/professionaltreating such an injury is detected by the primary receiver 3 (FIG. 5)receiving a strength/intensity signal indicating they did not approachthe patient's head, or all received signals are received for less than arequired or expected duration for the medical worker to provide therequisite treatment for such a trauma, the processor 19 canindicate/attach a note to such a record and/or call for acheck/confirmation that the designated worker or another worker hasprovided the proper treatment to the patient.

Additionally, based on a detected location or locations of a healthcareworker, as identified by the signal or signals received and/or recordedfrom one or more identified primary receivers within the facility thathave detected the worker's badge, the processor 19 can determine whetherthe healthcare worker was exposed to any communicable diseases orinfections possessed by the patient, such as MRSA, staph, or Ebola,which may have been communicated to the healthcare worker. For example,if the patient possesses a communicable infection/disease on his or herfoot and the medical worker comes with in a certain proximity to thepatient's foot (e.g., approximately 0.5 in to approximately 2 ft. or anyother distance, range, or proximity sufficient to contract theinfection/disease) the processor 19 can determine that the medicalworker potentially was exposed to the communicable infection/disease bycross-referencing the signal received from the badge of the medicalworker, e.g., only signal 6 e received, with the patient's healthinformation or medical records indicating the communicableinfection/disease on their foot. This can therefore allow for mapping ofthe movements and activities of the healthcare worker throughout themedical facility, including mapping or logging the particularcommunicable infections/diseases in which a particular healthcare workerencountered or was exposed to. Accordingly, real time tracking andmapping of all of the communicable diseases each person, e.g.,healthcare workers or patients, in the facility has been exposed to canbe achieved. Further, the processor 19 can generate forensic mapsshowing the particular positions of each of the persons in the medicalfacility, e.g., patients and healthcare workers, and the particulardiseases or infections they were potentially exposed to and furtherstore such maps in storage 21.

According to further aspects of the present disclosure, bycross-referencing the position of the healthcare worker based on thesignal or signals received by the primary receiver(s) 3/30 and thehealth information or medical records of the patient, the processor 19can determine a particular sanitation action the healthcare worker isrequired to take and communicate such action to the health care worker.In this example, each badge worn by healthcare personnel can include oneor more altering or indication devices, which may include a series ofLEDs, or an audible alarm, which can be a speaker(s) or other audiodevice, and the altering or indication devices can alert healthcarepersonnel to take particular sanitation actions, such as by executing aparticular illumination sequence of the LEDs or sounding a predeterminednumber of tones with the alarm. Accordingly, based on a patient'sparticular health information stored in the database 23, including anycommunicable diseases or infections the patient may have, the processor19 can determine what particular sanitation actions are required andtransmit a signal containing information to the primary receiver orreceivers 3 receiving signals from one or more badges 2. Thisinformation can then be relayed from the primary receivers 3 to thebadges 2 to activate a particular sequence, or specific color (e.g.,red), of the LEDs or sound a specific tone or number of tones of thealarm to communicate whether, and which, sanitation action may berequired.

For example, if a patient does not have a serious infection or disease,the processor can determine by cross-referencing the identifiedreceivers located in the treatment area housing the patient andreporting contact with a monitored medical worker (i.e., by detector oftheir badge) with the patient's medical information stored on thedatabase, and thereafter can transmit information to the one or morereceivers and/or to the badges so that only a single LED may illuminateor only a signal tone may sound from the audible alarm, such as toindicate that minimal sanitation is required, e.g., washing hands orusing hand sanitizer, and on the other hand, if the patient has aserious infection or disease, all of the LEDs on the badge mayilluminate or produce a specific color or the alarm make sound numeroustones or a specific tone to indicate that a higher level of sanitationis required, e.g., changing of clothes, quarantine, or otherdisinfection procedure. The primary receivers 3 and the sanitationdevices 11, which may be coupled thereto, may also include a series ofalerting/indication devices, such as LEDs or alarms that can light up ina particular sequence or with a particular color or make a series ofsounds or tones to indicate various sanitations action required.

Additionally, if the medical worker does not take a particularsanitation action (e.g., does not activate or come within a certainproximity of a sanitation device) after coming within a particular areaor zone, such as a zone or area with patients having a particularserious disease, the indicators on the badges or receivers can execute aparticular LED illumination sequence or color or sound a distinct toneor number of tones to indicate a required sanitation action, e.g.,change clothes or wash hands.

In a further example, the badges 2 may provide access to selected areasof a medical facility, e.g., patient rooms, such as by activating doorlocks coupled with RFID receivers. Accordingly, by cross-referencing thepatient information or medical history of the patients in differentareas of the medical facility with the identifier of, and otherinformation relating to, the medical worker carrying or wearing thebadge 2, the processor can determine which workers should or should notbe granted access to various areas of the facility to thereby ensureonly properly trained or qualified medical personnel are allowed toenter various selected areas. In one example, the processor cancross-reference medical information of patients in selected areas of themedical facility, including information on any infectious/communicablediseases the patient(s) may have contracted, in view of receivedinformation identifying the badge, which can also identify the medicalworking carrying such badge and other information on the medical worker,which may also be stored in the database; and, can determine whethersuch identified medical professionals are permitted entry to the variousselected areas of the medical facility based on this cross-referencedinformation. If a medical worker is determined not to be qualified totreat a particular disease or infection, such medical worker's badge maynot permit or grant them access into areas of the medical facilityhousing patients with such particular disease or infection.

In another example, the system can grant or permit access only tomedical workers who have already taken the proper preparatory proceduresto encounter patients with a specific infection or disease. For example,if a medical worker is required to put on a hazmat suit or otherprotective clothing or to take certain precautions/procedures prior toentering a patient area, detection of the medical worker's badge maygenerate a signal to grant access to the particular area only afterdetecting the worker clears the required precautions, or alternatively,if a secondary badge linked to a receiver 3 of the hazmat suit or otherprotective clothing is detected. As another alternative, the medicalworker may have to swipe, or hold their badge within a close proximity(approximately 0.5 in. to approximately 3 in.) to a receiver containedin the hazmat suit or other protective clothing. For example, the hazmatsuit or other protective clothing may have one or more transmittingdevices transmitting a code or identifier specific to each hazmat suitor other protective clothing, and the badge will not be permitted intothe selected areas requiring such additional protection unless thesignal from the badge is received along with a signal from thetransmitter of the suit or protective clothing.

In a further aspect of the present disclosure, the system 1, 10 cantrack and identify equipment or personnel entering or passing through aseries of predetermined zones or sub zones, the time the personidentified with a certain badge 2, 20/IR transmitter ID or signatureremains in such zones and sub zones, and use or non-use of specificequipment in such zones or sub-zones. For instance, in medicalfacilities (drug rehab, nursing homes, hospitals, medical offices, etc.)personnel can be tracked in proximity to drug cabinets, hazardous areas,patient areas; and predetermined desirable or undesirable actions can bedetected, such as cabinets/doors opening or closing, dispensers used ornot used, equipment handled or not handled, areas approached or notapproached. In each event detected and/or recorded, the data received bythe processor 19 will be in real time and recorded for that specificsignature. Multiple predetermined events according to the applicationand/or environment, e.g., hospital, food service, clean room, etc., inwhich the system is used, such as proximity to a dispenser and/or areceiver, use of a dispenser or a tool, and/or tracking throughpredetermined zones, can be read for each specific transmittersignature.

According to further embodiments, which can include features that can beused with and/or incorporated into the above exemplary embodiments orthat can replace various features of the above exemplary embodiments,embodiments of the present disclosure can be adapted for use as atracking and proximity warning system for us in hospital patient roomsto help facilitate compliance with sanitizing and/or disinfectionprocedures and practices.

In an additional embodiment of use of the compliance system according tothe principles of the present disclosure, FIG. 6 illustrates operationof the IR subzone technology in one example embodiment incorporating asanitizing or disinfecting fluid dispenser system set in a hospitalpatient room 80. There are five dispensers 82 a-e, in this exampleshowing the layout of a semi-private patient room 80 including two beds84A-B. Private or semi-private patient rooms are typical in most U.S.hospitals, but other countries frequently have multiple beds in a room.Depending on the size of the patient room, a minimum of threesanitizers/soap dispensers 82 c-e can be positioned to track thepresence of a healthcare provider proximate to beds 84A/B and side ofthe beds approached. In the present example, there are four sanitizerstations 82 a and 82 c-e and one soap dispenser station 82 b, which caneach incorporate, or otherwise be in communication with, primaryreceivers 3, 30, positioned along two of the walls of the room 80.Specifically, a sanitizer dispenser 82 a can be at the entrance/exit ofthe room and a soap dispenser 82 b can be located adjacent or internallyto a bathroom 86 are shown. There can also be sanitizers 82 c-e alonganother wall and behind the patient beds 84 a/b. The primary receivers3, 30 coupled to, or incorporated with, each dispenser/sanitizer canhave an infrared emitter, e.g., transmission device 7, and a detector,e.g., receiving devices 5, 50, that can illuminate two subzones 88A/Bthat emanate from each dispenser 82 a-c, and that receive infraredsignals from badges 2, 20 carried by various hospital personnel.However, embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to twozones or subzones and only a single zone or more than two zones orsubzones may be used for each dispenser.

As further shown in FIG. 6, in a two bed-three dispenser scenario, theplacement of dispenser 82 c creates two subzones 88A/B, one of whichprovides coverage of the space to the left side of the first bed. Thetwo subzones 88A/B created by dispenser 82 d cover the space to theright side of the first bed and to the left side of the second bed. Forthe two subzones created by dispenser 82 e, one covers the space to theright side of the second bed. With this example, zone 88A for dispenser82 c and zone 88B for dispenser 82 e are too far from the left and rightbeds, respectively, to trigger an audio alarm or visual signal to ahospital worker, but any badge 2, 20 detected in these zones will alsobe identified, tracked, and monitored. In order to fully utilize the IRsubzone technology in a hospital environment, each healthcare worker orpatient can carry or wear badges 2, 20, which can transmit signals withindividualized signatures or other identifiers. The badges 2, 20 canalso respond illumination signals emitted by the primary receivers 3, 30coupled to the dispensers 82. FIGS. 7A-B illustrate top and side views,respectively, for subzones of badges 2, 20 worn by such personnel orpatients. FIG. 7A shows four subzones 90 a-d that can be generated bythe badges 2, 20 receiving and responding to illumination emitted from adispenser. The four subzones emanating from the primary badges 2, 20cover approximately 180 degrees horizontally from the healthcare worker.FIG. 7B indicates that the badges 2, 20 may emit a signal that providesa significant amount of vertical coverage from the healthcare worker.The coverage provided both horizontally and vertically facilitatesplacement of the dispenser at various vertical positions along the roomwall.

In a further exemplary embodiment, infrared technology can be combinedwith subzone technology to determine worker sanitation complianceutilizing one or more smart dispensers, which may house or incorporateprimary receivers 3, 30. The primary receivers 3, 30 of the smartsanitizer or soap dispensers can, for example, generate a single IRsource to create one or more IR dispenser subzones each having a uniqueaddress. Accordingly, any smart dispenser, with primary receivers 3, 30,can track or locate a worker, who can be carrying a badge 2, 20,throughout a particular subzone location, and thus, each smart dispensercan track and monitor such worker's movement and activities throughoutdifferent subzones and/or determine the total time spent by the workerin each subzone. Additionally, each badge 2, 20 carried by workers canalso utilize this subzone technology. For example, each badge 2, 20 cangenerate a single IR source to create multiple IR badge subzones andeach multiple IR badge subzone can have the same unique ID address.Further, the badges 2, 20 can activate or wake up after entering any ofthe one or more IR dispenser subzones and transmit the unique badge IDto the dispenser and then go back to sleep. Accordingly, combining oneor more IR dispenser subzones throughout a selected a work area with IRbadge subzones can allow for identification and monitoring of theposition and movements of a worker in real time to ensure compliancewith sanitation requirements.

In an additional alternative embodiment, the present disclosure providesan infrared identification tracking method and system for hospitalsand/or food processing hygiene compliance. In this embodiment, eachmedical worker or healthcare professional can wear a badge 101, orbadges 2, 20, on their chest. Each badge 101 can comprise, for example,at least three infrared LED's 102-104, in a configuration as shown ofone LED in the front 102 and one LED on each side 103/104. Thisconfiguration provides a coded person's identification and positionwithin a predetermined zone. The predetermined zone can be designated byseveral factors, such as, distance, front, right, left side seen fromthe orientation of the badge 101. The badge 101 may also include atleast one infrared receiver 105 that functions to “wake up” the badge101 when the badge receives a signal from a dispenser or other trackingunit, such as those that are installed within a facility. Generally, thebadge 101 can be in a ready state and can be woken up in order toprovide for battery saving.

As shown in FIG. 8, each badge can include a badge body indicated at101, a center infrared LED indicated at 102, a right side LED indicatedat 103, and a left side LED indicated at 104, and a wake-up infraredsensor indicated at 105. The badge shown in FIG. 8 also includes anidentification (as shown, this badge belongs to “Dr. XYZ”). Thecompliance system then coordinates multiple hygiene dispensers installedin, for example, a patient's room. Additionally, each of the dispensersgenerally comprises at least one infrared transmission LED, at least onefront infrared receiver, at least one side infrared receiver, at leastone infrared sub-zone on at least one side of the unit, and a RadioFrequency (RF) transmitter. The RF transmitter generally sends any eventto the cloud through an antenna, which can be received by a centralfacility computer to be recorded and processed. Still further, thesystem can be provided with an exit room location tracking infraredrelay or detector, which can be comprised of an IR receiver and an IRand/or RF transmitter. The system can send a signal when the personwearing the badge, generally a health care worker, leaves the patient'sroom, or any other location in the facility identifying the badgewearer's location.

FIG. 9 shows a dispenser 106 generally positioned within the facility.The dispenser shown in FIG. 9 can optionally include internal sidesubzone receivers 110/111. The dispenser includes a dispenser body,generally indicated at 106, an RF antennae, generally indicated at 107,an infrared front receiver, generally indicated at 108, an infraredtransmitter, generally indicated at 109, infrared left side receiversarray (internal receivers), generally indicated at 110, infrared rightside receivers array (internal receivers), generally indicated at 111,infrared right side receivers subzones, generally indicated at 112,infrared left side receivers subzones, generally indicated at 113, and atimer, as shown, generally indicated at 123, which timer can include adelay (such as a 10 second timer) and can include a visual indicator,such as a blinking arrow as shown in FIG. 9.

FIG. 10A shows a dispenser with side bar sub and zone receivers. Asshown in FIG. 10A, the dispenser includes left sub zone bar 120, rightsub zone bar 118, right infrared constant sensitivity sensors 119, andleft infrared constant sensitivity sensors 121. FIG. 10B illustratesanother option for detection of sub zones and distance detection datacan be achieved by replacing one of more of the IR receivers 119 of FIG.10A with mirrors 50 that can be adjusted to reflect the receivedtransmission from a badge 101 respective LED 4 to the receivers 111,which are located on each side of the dispenser 106 in one embodiment.

FIG. 11 shows an exit room and tracking unit. As shown in FIG. 11, theexit room unit and tracking unit includes a body, generally indicated at114, an RF antennae (optional), generally indicated at 115, an infraredreceiver, generally indicated at 116, and an infrared transmitter,generally indicated at 117. When a caregiver is leaving the patientroom, the unit receives a signal from badge 101, and transmits an exitsignal with badge ID to the dispenser 106 via front receiver 108, andoptionally, to the network 15 via antennae 107. This signal transmissionwill allow the badges to reset back to the beginning mode.

FIG. 12 shows a schematic of one embodiment of the proximity warningsystem, generally designated 200, constructed and operative according toembodiments of the present disclosure, for warning of the proximity ofan obstacle within at least one zone of interest. Generally, system 200includes at least one primary sensor 212 deployed to receive radiationfrom at least part of the zone of interest. Primary sensor 212 isconfigured to produce a primary output indicative of a quantity ofelectromagnetic radiation incident on primary sensor 212. System 200also includes means for generating a compensation output indicative of aquantity of background electromagnetic radiation incident on primarysensor 212. At least one transmitter 216 can be configured to transmitan electromagnetic signal towards at least part of the zone of interest.A processing module 220 is responsive to the primary output of primarysensor 212 to generate a warning signal.

Turning now to the features of the system 200 in more detail, accordingone exemplary embodiment, the means for generating a compensation outputincludes at least one secondary sensor 214 for measuring the backgroundradiation. In this case, primary sensor 212 can be configured to besensitive to a first range of wavelengths, while secondary sensor 214can be configured to be sensitive to a second range of wavelengths. Byconfiguring transmitter 216 to transmit an electromagnetic signal at awavelength falling within the first range but outside the second range,the secondary sensor is rendered insensitive to the transmitted signaland measures only the background radiation.

In order to ensure that the measured background is reliably indicativeof the background radiation level in the wavelength range measured byprimary sensor 212, the first and second ranges are preferablyrelatively close parts of the spectrum. In one implementation, thetransmitted electromagnetic signal lies within the near infrared portionof the electromagnetic spectrum. Particularly when used in combinationwith an optical filter (described below), which selects the red end ofthe visible spectrum, the measured intensity of the visible sunlightradiation can provide a near-infrared signal of approximatelynear-infrared sunlight intensity.

Both primary sensors 212 may be of any commercially available typesensitive to the wavelength bands of interest. Typically, such sensorsare made up of a photodiode with appropriate prefiltration and anassociated electrical circuit to generate a current output as a functionof the incident radiation intensity within the given range. However, anyother type of sensor capable of producing a signal indicative of theradiation intensity may equally be employed.

System 200 can also include a radiation filter 222 deployed in front ofboth primary sensor 212 and secondary sensor 214. Radiation filter 222can be configured to reduce the level of incident radiation sufficientlyto avoid saturation of the primary sensor even under conditions ofdirect sunlight. To this end, filter 222 is typically configured tosubstantially block major sections of the electromagnetic spectrum. Inthe case that infrared transmission is used, filter 222 cansubstantially blocks a major part of the infrared portion of thespectrum not required for reception of the reflected signal. Similarly,a major part of the visible spectrum is preferably also substantiallyblocked.

In this context, “substantial blocking” is used to refer to blocking ofat least about 90%, or at least about 95%, of the incident radiationintensity of the blocked wavelengths. Optionally, depending on thesensitivity of the sensors used, filter 222 may be designed to producean intermediate degree of attenuation, typically between about 40% andabout 60% of the intensity, over the first and/or second wavelengthranges. Radiation filters with the required properties also may beproduced by generally known techniques including, but not limited to,admixtures of selectively absorptive dyes in an acrylic or polycarbonatebase.

In order to provide a substantially reliable measurement of theinstantaneous background radiation falling on primary sensor 212,secondary sensor 214 can be deployed adjacent to, and typically as closeas possible to, primary sensor 212. As will be described below, system200 typically employs at least two primary sensors 212. In this case, acorresponding secondary sensor 214 is preferably deployed adjacent toeach primary sensor 212, thereby providing an independent indication ofthe sunlight currently falling on each primary sensor.

Turning now to transmitter 216, this is typically an LED designed toemit a signal of suitable wavelength, preferably within the nearinfrared range of the spectrum, typically in the range from about 800 toabout 1000 nm. Preferred embodiments of the invention employ a pluralityof LEDs with diverging lenses to cover a specific zone of interest.Specific geometrical arrangements of both the transmitters and sensorswill be discussed below in more detail.

The signal transmitted by transmitter 216 corresponds to a base signalproduced by a signal generator 224, modified by compensation module 218and preferably also by a modulator module 226. Signal generator 224 ispreferably configured to generate an underlying pulsed power supplyhaving a duty cycle of less than about 5%, and typically no more thanabout 2%. In other words, the pulsed power supply is made up of a cycleof pulses of duration such that the total time of the pulses correspondsto no more than about 5% (or about 2%) of the total cycle, the rest ofthe cycle being unpowered “dead time.” By way of example, this could beimplemented as a signal generator of base frequency about 38 kHzswitched to produce about 100 pulses per second, each of duration about2×10⁴ seconds corresponding to about 8 peaks of the base frequency. Itshould be appreciated, however, that the particular choice of basefrequency used is not important, and may vary by as much as a few ordersof magnitude from the example given. The use of such a low duty cyclehelps to avoid overheating of the LEDs.

It should be noted at this point that, for convenience of presentation,the subsequent processing of the underlying pulsed power supply togenerate the transmitted signal will be described without extensivereference to the pulsed nature of the power supply. Thus, transmissionof the pulsed power supply for 10% of a one second cycle (0.1 second)will be referred to simply as transmission during 10% of a one secondcycle. Clearly, the total time over which the LEDs will actually betransmitting is the product of this percentage with the duty cyclepercentage.

Modulator module 226 can be configured to modulate the transmissionpower of the electromagnetic signal cyclically between at least two, andtypically three or more, relative power levels each corresponding to adifferent-sized zone of interest. The highest transmission powerproduces the highest amplitude reflected signal, leading to detection ofan object at a larger distance. The highest relative power level can begenerated for less than about 20%, and typically between about 5% andabout 15%, of each cycle. The period of cycle used is preferably withinan order of magnitude from one second. Typically, the cycle period liesbetween about 0.2 and about 2 seconds, and most preferably, betweenabout 0.5 and about 1 second. The significance of this choice willbecome clearer from the description of a preferred implementation of thewarning system below.

FIG. 13 illustrates a particularly simple and effective directelectronic implementation of the transmission sub-system 228 of system200 which includes signal generator 224, compensation module 218,modulator module 226, and transmitter(s) 216. As mentioned before,transmitters 216 are implemented as a number of LEDs. Each LED 216 isconnected through a dedicated transmission-power modifying resistor M1,Mx etc., between a stabilized voltage source 230 and indirectly toground 232. Signal generator 224 is implemented as a modulator 234 withan output form as described above connected to operate a transistorswitch Q4 which performs rapid switching of the ground connection. WhenQ4 is closed, the circuit through the LEDs is completed to generate asignal. The intensity of the signal, however, can vary according to thestate of a number of additional transistors Q1, Q2 and Q3, each of whichis connected in parallel with a corresponding resistor R1, R2 and R3.

Compensation module 218 further can be implemented using transistor Q3and resistor R3. When the compensation signal indicates high levels ofbackground radiation, such as direct sunlight on the sensors, transistorQ3 effectively shorts across resistor R3 to generate the maximumavailable intensity transmission from LEDs 216. As the backgroundradiation intensity decreases, the state of Q3 is gradually adjusted toreduce the LEDs intensity until, at low background intensity, resistorR3 reduces the LED intensity to near the lowest value at which thesystem is operative. In practice, it has been found that under mostcircumstances, the effect of the background radiation is only verysignificant under direct sunlight falling on filter 222. As a result, abasic implementation of compensation module may perform simple switchingof Q3 between two extreme states. In a more precise implementation,compensation module 218 includes a conversion module, typicallyimplemented as an analog or digital signal processing unit as either afunction or look-up table, for converting the compensation signal to anappropriate control voltage for transistor Q3.

Modulator module 226, made up of pulse generators 236 a and 236 b,transistors Q1 and Q2 and resistors R1 and R2, can provide alow-frequency cyclic modulation superimposed over the power supplyvariations produced by signal generator 224 and compensation module 218.In this case, two transistor stages are employed to generate threedifferent intensity levels. However, it will be readily apparent thatthe number of stages may be either increased or decreased according tothe number of levels required. Similarly, minor variations would enablemore than two levels to be produced by use of a single transistor stage.

In the implementation shown, pulse generators 236 a and 236 b aresynchronous square wave pulse generators operating at a common frequencybetween about 1 and about 2 Hz. These can differ in the duration of thepulses generated. For example, pulse generator 236 a can generate apulse for 10% of the cycle whereas pulse generator 236 b can generate apulse extending for 50% of the cycle.

The resulting transmitted signal is shown in FIG. 14. For the first 10%of the cycle, both pulse generators 236 a and 236 b produce a highoutput, causing transistors Q1 and Q2 to short across resistors R1 andR2 to generate the full intensity transmission currently allowed bycompensation module 218. After the initial 10% pulse, pulse generator236 a goes low, blocking transistor Q1 so that resistor R1 lowers thetransmitted intensity to an intermediate relative level. Then, for thesecond half of the cycle, pulse generator 236 b also goes low, blockingtransistor Q2 so that resistor R2 further lowers the transmittedintensity to a lowest relative level.

Referring back to FIG. 12, it should be noted that the system shown isreadily expandable to any size of transmitter array. The LED arrayillustrated here may be extended as designated by LEDs, each LED beingprovided with its own modifying resistor Mx. Additionally, wheredifferent arrays of LEDs are to be controlled by independentcompensation modules 218, the outputs of signal generator 224 and pulsegenerators 236 a and 236 b may be used simultaneously to controladditional sets of transistors.

FIG. 15 illustrates a particularly simple and effective directelectronic implementation of the reception sub-system 238 of system 210which includes sensors 212 and 214, filter 222, processing module 220,and an alarm unit 240. Secondary sensor 214 can be connected to provideits output to compensation module 218, as described. The output ofprimary sensor 212, on the other hand, is passed to processing module220 where signal processing is performed to generate an alarm outputindicative of the presence of an obstacle within the zone of interest.

Additionally in this implementation, processing module includes anamplifier 242 followed by a capacitor 244 for blocking any DC signalreceived. The signal then passes through a band pass filter 246 tuned toselect only frequencies close to the base frequency of signal generator224. After rectification at rectifier 248, the signal is passed to aSchmitt trigger 250 which serves to produce an even, noise-free binaryoutput. This output can be supplied through a diode to a groundedcapacitor 251 chosen to provide a decay time approximating to the periodbetween pulses of the basic pulsed power supply, thereby “holding” thedetected peaks to generate a continuous signal. The resulting output isan on-off DC voltage which generally is sufficiently stable to be feddirectly to alarm unit 240.

Alarm unit 240 itself can include an element for generating an audiblealarm which may be of any conventional type. Additionally, oralternatively, a visual or tactile warning notification system may beemployed. Furthermore, the alarm unit may provide distinguishablewarning signals according to which of a number of sensors generated thesource signal. Since different sensors correspond to different regions,system 200 can thus provide an indication of within which region or areain which the obstacle lies.

Referring now additionally to FIG. 16, it is a particular feature ofcertain embodiments of the present disclosure that the nature and timingof a warning signal generated by system 200 is directly determined bythe form of the transmitted signal. Thus, in the example described here,with reference to FIGS. 13-15, the proportion of each one second cycleduring which alarm 40 is activated will vary as a direct result of thesignal form shown in FIG. 14. When an obstacle is at the boundary of thelargest zone of interest, only the highest level signal transmittedduring the first 10% of each cycle will produce sufficient reflectedintensity to generate an alarm signal. This will result in a series of0.1 second “blips” 52 at one second intervals. When the obstacle entersthe medium size zone of interest, reflection of the medium intensitytransmitted signal from 10% to 50% of the cycle will also besufficiently strong to be detected and to generate an alarm signal. Thiswill result in a more insistent series of ½ second “beeps” 54. Finally,when the obstacle enters the shortest range zone of interest such thateven the lowest level transmitted signal produces a detectablereflection, the warning will switch to a continuous tone 256.

It should be noted that, besides the simplicity of such a system, theform of warning notification described can facilitate increased orenhanced recognition. For example, the differences between the threedifferent types of notifications provided are generally immediately andunambiguously identifiable to the human ear, thereby avoiding theproblems of misinterpretation which can be common in known warningsystems.

It should be noted at this point that the implementations of variouscomponents described thus far, as well as variations thereof which willbe mentioned below, are provided merely by way of illustration and areby no means exclusive. To illustrate this point, it should be noted thatan alternative implementation can readily be achieved by use of amicrocomputer together with appropriate software operating under asuitable operating system to replace one or more of signal generator224, compensation module 218, modulator module 226, and processingmodule 220. Each module is typically implemented as a separate softwaremodule stored within some non-volatile memory device for execution by aCPU. Interfacing with the sensors, transmitters and alarm unit isachieved using conventional analog and/or digital interfaces or samplersas is known in the art.

Turning now to a second set of features relating to deployment of thetransmitter and sensor elements, these will be described with referenceto FIGS. 17-19. Specifically, system 200 can be configured to warn ofthe proximity of an obstacle within a zone. In other words, for anygiven obstacle, a warning should be generated when the obstacle crossesover the virtual line into the zone of interest substantiallyindependent of the position along the line at which it crosses.

In more specific terms, this may be achieved by two types ofarrangements which may be used separately or in combination. In thefirst type, which will be described with reference to FIG. 17, thetransmission and sensitivity profiles of transmitter and sensor elementsare combined separately to generate profiles approximating to therequired zone shape. In the second, described with reference to FIG. 18,the deployment of the transmitters and sensor are coordinated so that amaximum sensitivity direction of the sensor compensates for the minimumin the transmitted intensity pattern.

Thus, FIG. 17 shows a pair of transmitters 216 each with a transmissionintensity profile 260. Typically, a simple lensed LED exhibits atransmission intensity which decreases as a function of angle from anaxial maximum intensity direction. By deploying transmitters 216 withtheir maximum intensity directions angularly spaced, the degree ofoverlap between their intensity profiles can be chosen to generate adesired total transmitted intensity at an intermediate position.

By way of example, if the transmission intensity profile of eachtransmitter decreases to 50% at a given angle, transmitter elements 216can be deployed with their maximum intensity directions angularly spacedsuch that their 50% intensity directions are substantially aligned. Thisgenerates an approximately uniform total transmission intensity profilebetween the axial directions of the transmitters. Clearly, if thedistance from the transmitters to the required zone boundary decreasesbetween the axial directions, as in the example illustrated, thetransmitters can be deployed at a wider angle with, for example, their40% intensity directions overlapping to generate an 80% intensity at theintermediate position. Conversely, a higher degree of overlap can beused to generate a transmission profile approximating to a longer rangeboundary of the zone falling between the axial directions.

As already mentioned, this approach can be used both with thetransmitter elements and with multiple sensor elements to approximate toa required transmission or sensitivity profile. Sensitivity profiles oftypical sensors for use in the present invention are generally similarto those of the transmitters, although the angular spread of a sensorprofile is typically larger.

FIG. 18 shows a pair of transmitters 216 each with a transmissionintensity profile 260 which decreases as a function of angle from anaxial maximum intensity direction. Transmitters 216 can be deployed withtheir maximum intensity directions angularly spaced such that a totaltransmitted intensity assumes a minimum value, typically no more thanabout 50% of each transmitter's maximum intensity, at an intermediateangular position 262. A sensor 212, with a reception sensitivity profile264, is aligned with its maximum sensitivity direction alignedsubstantially with the intermediate angular position 262. This formationensures that the maximum sensitivity of the sensor is aligned to receivesignals reflected from the lowest intensity transmission, whereas theless sensitive sensor directions receive a much stronger reflectedsignal. The net effect approximates to constant overall sensitivity ofthe system along the required straight line boundary.

Finally, with respect to this embodiment, FIG. 19 shows a pattern oftransmitters 216 deployed to approximate to a rectangular zone ofinterest. Besides the considerations already mentioned, it will be notedthat the range to be covered by different beams varies considerably bothalong the far boundary and, in a more pronounced manner, towards theperipheral boundaries. Tailoring of the corresponding beam intensitiesis achieved by provision of transmission power modifiers associated witheach of the transmitter elements, for modifying the effect of theactuating power supply upon the corresponding transmitter element. Inthe implementation described above, transmission power modifierscorrespond to modifying resistors M1, Mx of FIG. 12.

Tuning now to FIG. 20, which shows a second embodiment of a proximitywarning system, generally designated 270, constructed and operativeaccording to the teachings of the present invention, for warning of theproximity of an obstacle within at least one zone of interest. System270 is generally similar to system 200, equivalent features beinglabeled similarly. System 270 is distinguished from system 200 in thatthe secondary sensor is omitted. Instead, the means for determining thelevel of background radiation is implemented as a sequencer module 272which derives the required measurements directly from the output ofprimary sensor 212.

As described above, the power supply from signal generator 224preferably has a duty cycle of less than about 5%. As a result, there isa large proportion of dead time during which no transmission occurs.Thus, the output of primary sensor 212 during the dead time intervals isa direct indication of the background intensity level being received bythe sensor.

Sequencer module 272 is connected to signal generator 224 so as to beswitched synchronously with the pulses of the underlying pulsed powersupply. Typically, each pulse initiates a delay circuit in sequencermodule 272 which briefly blocks input of a new sensor measurement. Then,once the power supply pulse has finished, sequencer module 272 inputsthe current sensor measurement as an indication of the currentbackground radiation level.

In all other respects, the structure and operation of system 270 may beunderstood by analogy to that of system 200 described above.

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of allmeans plus function elements in any claims below are intended to includeany structure, material, or acts for performing the function incombination with other claim elements as specifically claimed.

It should be noted that the invention includes a first set of features,described with reference to FIGS. 12-16, relating to compensation forbackground radiation, and a second set of features, described withreference to FIGS. 17-19, relating to geometrical deployment of sensorelements. Each set of features may be used independently in separatesystems. However, in a one illustrative embodiment, these features arecombined to particular advantage to provide a highly effective andreliable proximity warning system.

The foregoing description generally illustrates and describes variousembodiments of the systems and methods of the present disclosure. Itwill, however, be understood by those skilled in the art that variouschanges and modifications can be made to the above-discussed methods andsystems without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention asdisclosed herein, and that it is intended that all matter contained inthe above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall beinterpreted as being illustrative, and not to be taken in a limitingsense. Furthermore, the scope of the present disclosure shall beconstrued to cover various modifications, combinations, additions,alterations, etc., above and to the above-described embodiments, whichshall be considered to be within the scope of the present invention.Accordingly, various features and characteristics of the systems andmethods as discussed herein may be selectively interchanged and appliedto other illustrated and non-illustrated embodiments of the invention,and numerous variations, modifications, and additions further can bemade thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention as set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed:
 1. A system for identifying and mapping movements of personnel within a facility, comprising: a plurality of badges carried by selected ones of the personnel through the facility, each badge comprising one or more transmitters each transmitting a series of signals, wherein the signals include signature information identifying each badge and at least one identifying code for each signal transmitted by the one or more transmitters of each identified badge; a series of receivers positioned at selected locations within the facility and configured to receive one or more of the signals transmitted by the one or more transmitters of each badge, wherein at least a selected one of the receivers is configured to identify each badge from which signals are received based upon the signature information for the identified badge included in the received signals, and to determine a proximity, range, distance, or zone between the identified badge and selected receiver based on the identifying code included in the received signals from the identified badge.
 2. The system according to claim 1, further comprising: one or more sanitation devices in communication with at least one of the receivers.
 3. The system according to claim 2, wherein the at least one receiver is configured to detect use of a selected sanitation device and transmit to a server information including the identity of ones of the personnel carrying the badge and indicating whether the identified ones of the personnel used the selected sanitation device.
 4. The system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one selected receiver is configured to transmit information including the proximity, range, or distance between each identified badge and the receiver and the signature information identifying each badge to a server.
 5. The system according to claim 4, further comprising: a database storing data including information on medical patients checked into the facility; and a processor in communication with one or more of the receivers, the database, and the server, and configured to cross-reference the information on the medical patients stored in the database and the information including the proximity, range, or distance between each identified badge and the receiver, and the signature information identifying each badge, to alert the selected ones of the personnel to take a particular action or to allow or restrict access to the selected ones of the personnel to different areas of the facility.
 6. The system according to claim 1, wherein the transmitters of each badge are configured to initiate transmission of their series of signals in response to a transmission received from at least one receiver, when the badges are within a prescribed proximity, distance, range, or zone of the at least one receiver.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the receivers are configured to transmit a series of initiating signals covering predefined zones of the facility.
 8. A method of identifying and monitoring individuals in a facility, comprising: as the individuals move through the facility, transmitting a series of varying signals from transmitters of a plurality of badges carried by the individuals, wherein each signal contains a signature identifier corresponding to each badge and one or more codes indicating an distance, range, or zone of intensity of each transmitted signal; and receiving the transmitted signals of at least one receiver of a plurality of receivers positioned through the facility, identifying selected individuals approaching within a predetermined proximity, range, distance, or zone of the at least one receiver based on the signature identifier of the received signals; and determining a proximity, range, distance, or zone of the selected individuals carrying the badges with respect to the at least one receiver receiving the signals based on the codes indicating a proximity, range, distance, or zone of intensity of each transmitted signal.
 9. The method according to claim 8, further comprising: notifying the selected individuals within a predetermined proximity, range, distance or zone of the at least one receiver to use one or more sanitation devices in a selected area of the facility.
 10. The method according to claim 9, further comprising: determining whether the selected individuals activated one or more of the sanitation devices.
 11. The method according to claim 8, wherein the at least one receiver is mounted in a selected position adjacent a patient's bed in a predetermined area of the facility, and wherein the determining further comprises determining a location on a patient positioned on the bed where the individual is within a certain proximity, distance, range, or zone thereof.
 12. The method according to claim 11, further comprising: retrieving the patient's medical information from a database; and cross-referencing the patient's medical information retrieved from the database with the determined location of the patient's body to determine whether the patient received treatment of the determined location.
 13. The method according to claim 8, wherein transmitting a series of signals comprises transmitting at least one signal across an area sufficient to cover a series of predetermined zones with respect to each receiver.
 14. A system for tracking, locating, and mapping movements of medical workers in a medical facility, comprising: a series of badges carried by one or more selected medical workers, each badge comprising at least one transmitter configured to transmit a series of signals at varying intensities, each signal of the series of signals including signature information identifying the badges carried by each of the selected medical workers, and a signal identifier identifying each signal transmitted based on signal intensity or a selected code designation associated with each signal; and one or more receivers positioned adjacent a patient treatment area of the medical facility, each of the receivers being configured to transmit an activation signal to cause badges in a desired proximity thereto to transmit their series of signals, and to receive and create records of one or more of the series of signals; and transmit the records of the signals received from each badge, including the identity of each of the badges detected as coming in proximity to the receivers and information indicating each detected badge's distance, range, proximity, or zone from one or more of the receivers to a server.
 15. The system according to claim 14, wherein the badges each further comprise a badge receiver configured to receive the activation signal as each badge moves within the desired proximity to activate the badge and initiate the transmission of the series of signals.
 16. The system according to claim 15, wherein at least one receiver is located at a position adjacent an entryway of the treatment area.
 17. The system of claim 16, further comprising a sanitation device in communication with one or more of the receivers and including one or more notification devices that notify the selected medical worker to perform a sanitation action in response to one or more of the receivers receiving at least one of the signals transmitted from one or more badges. 